How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

Father Sean McManus of the Irish National Caucus

Father Sean McManus will be reading from his new autobiography, “My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland” and signing books on Saturday, October 15, at 2 PM at the AOH Div. 87 Hall, 2171 Wakeling Street, in Philadelphia.

Father McManus is president of the Irish National Caucus, a Capitol Hill-based organization which in 1984 initiated and launched the MacBride Principles – a code of conduct for companies doing business in Northern Ireland and. Those principles, which, among other things, call for fair employment practices, have also been passed into law by the US Congress as the standard for economic aid and investment. All recipients of the International Fund for Ireland—to which the US contributes almost $20 million a year—must be in compliance with the principles.

Father McManus was born in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, in a parish that was divided by the North-South border (part is in County Cavan). “England not only divided my country, but my parish as well, for Heaven’s sake, you don’t have to be a political genius to figure out why I have such an abhorrence for the injustice and absurdity of partition,” he told the Irish Echo in 2009.

He lost his brother, Patrick, in 1958 when the IRA bomb he was transporting exploded. Father McManus was arrested during an anti-internment demonstration in 1971. A Redemptorist, he served a parish in Boston before moving to Washington, DC. He started the Irish National Caucus in 1974 to lobby for peace and justice in Northern Ireland.

Admission to the book signing is free and copies will be on sale.

Also on Saturday, enjoy an evening of Irish music and dance at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, featuring the Martin Family Band.

On Sunday, the inimitable Timlin and Kane will be appearing at The Shanachie, Timlin’s pub in Ambler.

And in Coatesville, the equally inimitable Oisin MacDiarmada will be flying solo with his fiddle—he’s usually part of the remarkable group, Teada, which has appeared many times in the Philadelphia area, always to large crowds.

Monday is theater night. At Villanova, one of Ireland’s leading theatre directors, Patrick Mason, will talk about new Irish theater. And Philly’s own Inis Nua Theatre Company—which brings that new Irish (and UK) theater to the US—is staging a reading from British playwright Joe Penhall’s play, “Landscape with Weapon,” at Inis Nua’s new digs at the First Baptist Church at 17th and Sansom Streets in Philadelphia.

There are also two house concerts this week of note: On Tuesday night, Winnie Horan and Mick McAuley—two-fifths of the super group, Solas—will be in Ambler and Andy Irvine will be in Philly. It looks like both are sold out, but Irish Philadelphia will be there so we’ll share some pix and maybe even a video with you next week.

House concerts are a great way to hear a performer. So are concerts in businesses, a new thing to us. Next one up is the John Byrne Band at Cherubini Yachts in Delran, NJ on October 22. It’s part of the ongoing Circle of Friends concert series. Tickets are $15, BYOB.

October 14, 2011 by
Food & Drink, Music

A Little Bit of Ireland and Old Lace in Smithville, NJ

Kelly Coleman with Gaelic Storm at Ireland and Old Lace

I know a magical place, about an hour’s drive from Philadelphia, where a visit on any day of the week can get you some of the finest Irish things in life. And I mean the good stuff:  Cadbury Time Out & Curly Wurly bars, Nestle Smarties, Erin Farmhouse Vegetable Soup mixes, bangers, rashers, black and white puddings, meat pies, HP Hot Sauce, Bisto gravy… and it only gets better from there.

Where is this modern-day, non-disappearing Brigadoon, you ask??? It’s a quaint and beautifully established store called Ireland and Old Lace, situated among the approximately 60 shops on The Village Greene in Historic Smithville, New Jersey. And much the same as Brigadoon, on occasional days like this Saturday, October 7, bagpipes and music wondrously appear as if conjured out of the mist as the town plays host to The Smithville Irish Festival.

From the beginning, owner Kelly Coleman has carved her own path for her Irish shop, from opening it on a whim in 2002 to the big name concerts she regularly sponsors on the premises (Dropkick Murphys, Gaelic Storm, Barleyjuice, Flogging Molly).  This Saturday, the Irish Festival, which kicks off at 11AM, will feature performances by Bogside Rogues, Jamie and the Quiet Men, The Barley Boys and Amadaun, as well as the Mist of Ireland dancers.

But it’s the stuff inside the store that hooks people once the music stops. In May of 2010, Ireland and Old Lace launched the only licensed U.S. sales of Emerald Crystal, the company formed by several former glassblowers from Waterford after Waterford Crystal went out of business. In addition, Coleman has a large stock of scarves, hats and stoles from Branigan Weavers of Drogheda, County Louth, ladies and men’s hats from Hanna Hats and Shandon of Cork, and Belleek and Galway Crystal.

“We got a new load of woolen sweaters in yesterday, just in time for the change in temperature! We haven’t raised the price on our sweaters in five years, and still didn’t this year,” Coleman told me.

Coleman is committed to finding and selling real Irish goods, designed and made in Ireland. She makes several buying trips a year to make sure that what she has on offer is the real deal.

“My first buying trip, after I’d rented the store, I got on a flight to Dublin and started knocking on doors around Ireland and asking if I could see their products. I’d rented a hotel room, and went around to the gift shops, looked up websites and just started making phone calls. I had a week to put together an inventory.

“My big seller is always the fisherman’s sweaters, but I make sure that they are made in Ireland. Most Americans don’t understand, but they don’t mass produce, and they don’t create handmade junk. It’s a cottage industry over there, and that’s what is represented in my store. All the jewelry I sell has to be hallmarked.”

“I do have the filler stuff that changes around seasonally. I get a lot of repeat visitors who are looking for new things, so I’m always discovering new inventory. And I have the sort of stereotypical St. Patrick’s day items around that time of year. But I try to stay away from too much of that. I feel that Ireland is often misrepresented in the U.S.—it’s not all green beer and shamrocks.”

Coleman herself is Irish on both sides: her mom’s family is from Limerick, and her dad’s side is from Mayo. And even her husband, Mark Radziewicz, better known as “Razz” from Philadelphia’s country station 92.5 XTU, has Dublin born grandparents.

It was her husband who brought her to the area and provided the impetus to open Ireland and Old Lace (he also came up with the name). They’d been living in New York, where the two had met, when Razz got a job with the Philadelphia radio station. Coleman had been living out every 80’s child dream of working for MTV; she’d been a part of their international marketing department, a job that had required such arduous tasks as traveling to Cannes twice a year. Sigh.

But it was one of those visits to Cannes for MTV that had gotten her hooked on Ireland after she added on a vacation trip to the Emerald Isle. So, when she found herself living in South Jersey and jobless, she knew she had the grain of a great idea.

And nearly 10 years on, she is still excited about what she does.

This weekend promises beautiful weather, and Coleman knows just how it should be spent: “We recommend a Blacksmith — 1/2 Guinness 1/2 Smithwicks —to be enjoyed with The Barley Boys!”

For more information on Ireland and Old Lace, visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ireland-and-Old-Lace/72922972334. Information on Saturday’s Smithville Irish Festival can be found on their website: http://smithvilleirishfestival.com/index.htm

 

October 7, 2011 by
News

Remembering the Hunger Strikers

Celebrant Father Ed Brady in front of a poster of Hunger Striker Bobby Sands.

On Sunday, October 2, dozens of people gathered for a Mass, celebrated by Father Ed Brady, at the Irish Memorial in Philadelphia to honor the 30th anniversary of the Irish Hunger Strikers. In 1981, 10 men died of starvation in H block of Belfast’s Long Kesh Prison, protesting the British government’s decision to hold them as criminals instead of political prisoners.

Mass was followed by a buffet-style Irish breakfast at The Plough and the Stars at 2nd and Chestnut Streets, where a raffle was held to win a bodhran made by prisoners currently held in Ireland. The inner rim was signed by each man who contributed to its creation.

View our photo essay of the event. Photographs by Gwyneth MacArthur.

October 7, 2011 by
How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

William Jackson and Grainne Hambly

What happens when one of the best Celtic music harpers in the world meets up with one of the best Celtic music harpers in the world? You can find out on Saturday night when Grainne Hambly and William Jackson perform at the Gates Family Recital Hall at West Chester University.

They don’t just bring harp to their performances either. You can hear these two musical masters play a variety of instruments, including the exotic bouzouki, the concertina and tin whistle.

Jackson is from Glasgow, a composer and a founding member of Ossian, one of Scotland’s best-loved traditional bands. (If you’re a History Channel aficianado, you may have heard his work on “The Battle of the Clans,” or on the soundtrack of the movie, “A Shot at Glory, starring Robert Duval and Michael Keaton.)

Hambly, of Mayo, is a senior All-Ireland winner for harp and concertina, and garnered many other awards for her playing. She tours most of the year, bringing her “danceable” harp playing to all the major Celtic music and harp festivals in the US and Europe.

The two are also holding workshops on Sunday at the Swope Music Building at the university in West Chester.

Looking for a respite from nonstop sports watching? Rosin up your bow (or what have you) and head over to the AOH Notre Dame Div. 1 hall in Swedesburg on Sunday at 4 PM for a session.

The Echoes of Erin 2011 North American tour stops in Middletown, NJ, at the Middletown Arts Center on Wednesday, October 12. Sponsored by the Comhaltas Coeltoiri Eireann (also known as Coal-tus), an international organization dedicated to the preservation of Irish music and dance, the show brings All-Ireland champions in singing, dancing, and playing from Ireland. This is the only show in the tri-state area this year.

On Thursday, let genealogy expert John McDevitt help you find your Irish roots at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby. This week he’ll be talking about the Tithe Applotment Survey of the 1820s. Since it’s hard to find other Irish records going back that far, this should be enlightening.

Special heads up: Next Saturday, October 15, Father Sean McKay, founder of the Irish National Caucus, will be in Philadelphia at the AOH Div. 87 Hall to sign copies of his book, “My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland.”

As you probably know, all the details on these events are on our handy-dandy calendar. Check it out now. And we mean it.

October 7, 2011 by
News, People

2011 Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame Inductee: Kathleen Murtagh

Kathleen Murtagh

This is the first of three profiles of the 2011 inductees into the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame, written by Kathy McGee Burns, president of the organization, that we’ll be running over the next few weeks. First up is the Mayo Association’s Kathleen Murtagh. All three inductees, including Tom Farrelly of the Cavan Society, and John Donovan who serves on the board of the Philadelphia Irish Memorial, will be honored at a dinner at the Irish Center on November 13.

As I was interviewing Kathleen Murtaugh, I became mesmerized by her golden red hair, radiant blue-green eyes and the way, as she told me the story of her life—happy moments and sad—she was expressive, even bubbly, and joyous. It struck me that this was the lovely aura that draws so many people to this generous, warm-hearted woman.

Kathleen was born in Carracastle, a Roman Catholic parish which envelops parts of Mayo and Roscommon, and borders on Sligo. It is known for its 20 ringed forts. She was the fourth child (one son and four daughters) of Ellen Attracta Cawley (Aclare, Sligo) and Bernard Gavin (Swinford, Mayo).

Her parents had both left Ireland, at different times, to go to America. By a quirk of fate they met each other in Germantown. It seems that Ellen’s sister, Margaret, was married to Bernard’s brother, Patrick. They fell in love and wedding bells rang out on Easter Monday, 1928, at St. Francis Church. They settled in Germantown. The Gavins’ stay was shortened by Bernard’s health issues so the family with toddler, Brian, went back to Ireland. They went on to have four more wee ones, all girls, Margaret Mary, Helene, Kathleen and Linda.

When we talked about the homes in which the Gavins lived, Katheen, with an impish grin, told me several of them were haunted. One, in particular, Palmfield House, had been the family stead of Sir Anthony McDonnell (1840’s). He went on to be the first Catholic to ever serve as Under Secretary of Ireland. It was said that McDonnell’s father had hung himself and still roamed the halls.

Fortunately, Kathleen’s family settled on a farm, 38 acres, in Swinford, where they grew everything, from vegetables and fruit to hay. The land sustained them with their cows, pigs, turkeys, geese, ducks, and one horse. They all worked the farm.

Kathleen confessed that she had a childhood nickname: Jamjars. As a 10-year-old, she would go from cottage to cottage to collect jam jars and then resell them for 2 cents. Her sisters, laughingly, accused her of being the first recycler in Ireland. She was educated at the Cloongullane National School and the Convent of Mercy.

At age 18, her brother, Brian, an American citizen since he was born in the US, decided he wanted to move back. Their father, she said, saw what the future held for the family and decided that if one went, they’d all go. He didn’t want the heartache so many Irish experience, seeing their children leave one by one. So the Gavins sold every thing, said goodbye to their friends and sailed to America on the famous ocean liner, the Mauretania. They all stood on deck to wave hello to the Statue of Liberty. (Later, having sailed into the harbor, Kathleen’s first impression while driving through the Holland Tunnel, under all that water, was sheer terror.)

The young woman didn’t take long to set off on her new American adventure. She took a two-year business course, at $5 a week, at Immaculate Conception School and went on to work at many jobs. But it was at a Sunday night dance that she met her future husband, She met her husband, John (Jack) Murtaugh at a Sunday night dance. Sound familiar? They married in 1955 and had six children; Jack, Brian, Kevin, Maureen, Helene, and Kathleen. Jack, who owned a plumbing and heating business where Kathleen worked as his secretary, was an accomplished musician who played with some of the best, including local favorites Tommy Moffit and Pat Campbell.

Then tragedy struck. Jack Murtagh was accidentally killed in 1971, leaving Kathleen alone to raise their children, who ranged in age from four to 14, something, she said, she managed to do “with the help of God.” Even with all of that responsibility, she saved every Sunday for her aging parents. She spent the day at their home, lovingly cooking, cleaning and entertaining them until their deaths in 1985 and 1986.

In 1985, Kathleen met Charles McCartin, who remained her best friend until his death. He introduced her to the Mayo Society (she’s been a loyal, favorite member ever since) and they enjoyed Irish dancing and socializing at the Commodore Barry Club.

Along with her involvement with the Mayo Society, Kathleen is president of the St. Bernadette’s Senior Citizens Club, active with the Irish Immigration Center of Philadelphia, a volunteer for the St. Patrick Fathers and Holy Rosary Sister. She also stays busy at home—just keeping pace with her 18 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren for whom she is a positive role model with her philosophy: “Help who I can.”

October 6, 2011 by
Music

Five Questions for Andy Irvine

Andy Irvine

Andy Irvine (Photo © Brian Hartigan)

For 45 years, Andy Irvine has been entrancing audiences with his superb voice and deep musicality.

Irvine has managed to take traditional music and turn it into something uniquely his own, while still paying homage to the art form’s origins. He has been in on the ground floor of some memorable ensembles, including Sweeney’s Men, Planxty,  Patrick Street and the sensational Andy Irvine & Dónal Lunny’s Mozaik.

There are still some tickets left to hear him in an intimate house concert October 18 in Center City Philadelphia. If you’re interested, e-mail the Barn Star Concert Series at barnstarconcerts@gmail.com.

As a tune-up to the concert, we asked him five questions about his career, his take on the evolution of Irish music … and what he’d love to try next.

Q. What do you think about the evolution in traditional Irish music? You can still find many, many musicians and bands who hold fast to tradition. You get the sense that, whatever tune the flute player is playing in the session down at the pub, it might not be all that different from how the tune was played in the 18th century. But clearly, for some time there have been non-traditional instruments in the mix—I’ve heard trombones—and many ways to express the music that obviously owe a large debt to tradition, but then go off in some completely new and different direction.

A. Well… I guess I’m someone who went “off in a completely new and different direction!” When I started accompanying Irish Traditional song on bouzouki & mandola, the road ahead was pretty open. My feelings, generally, are that immersion in the tradition should lead to playing with good taste. If you trust your sense of taste, you will satisfy yourself—which is the primary aim—and hopefully others as well.

Crossing “Reuben’s Train” with Romanian riffs underlined for me that people’s music, in Europe anyway, all comes from the same wellhead.

Q. Some people reject that kind of cultural cross-pollination: “An Irish band shouldn’t play a Bruce Springsteen song.” You obviously have an appreciation of other genres. Certainly no one can question your Irish music credentials–you’ve been called a “legend”—and yet right from the start you’ve been experimental. Do you regard yourself simply as a musician, and to heck with the labels? Is music just music for you in the end?

A. I have always enjoyed attempting cross pollination—or cross-pollution, as Donal Lunny called the music of Mozaik! Mozaik was my favourite band ever. Crossing “Reuben’s Train” with Romanian riffs underlined for me that people’s music, in Europe anyway, all comes from the same wellhead.

Q. I’ve chatted with other musicians—Eileen Ivers comes to mind—who insist they’d be bored if they always and only played the music the way Michael Coleman played it. Does that describe you? Would you be bored if you always played and sang the same things?

A. I’d be pretty sure that Eileen didn’t phrase it quite like that! (Editor’s note: she didn’t.) There was only one Michael Coleman! On a long tour sometimes a song becomes a chore but after a day off it comes back renewed. Having said that, it’s always a great feeling when you introduce something new.

Q. Can you go too far? Can you tinker too much with traditional Irish music? Have you heard tunes or bands and thought to yourself: That was a bit much? (I’m not asking you to name names.)

A. Yes, I have. Quite often. There’s an awful lot of dreadful music available…!

Q. What haven’t you tried yet musically that you’re still dying to to try?

A. I’d like to get Mozaik back together again. A new album would be a serious challenge! Bruce Molsky is rarely available and I took the step a few months ago of asking Annbjørg Lien if she would play with us when Bruce wasn’t available. Both were receptive to the idea but nothing has happened yet. There are so many musicians I’d like to have in that band! Jackie Molard, Theodosii Spassov, George Galliatsos from Apodomi Compania to name but three.

September 30, 2011 by
Arts

Inis Nua Theatre Company Nominated for 3 Barrymore Awards

Members of the "Dublin by Lamplight" cast. Photo by Katie Reing

The Inis Nua Theatre Company has received three nominations for the 2011 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre from the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, all for its production of “Dublin By Lamplight,” a play by Irish playwright Michael West.

Nominated are the cast of “Dublin by Lamplight,” which has spent nearly a month in New York as part of the New York Irish Theater Festival, for “outstanding ensemble in a play,” as well as Charlie DelMarcelle for outstanding lead actor in a play, and John Lionarons for the Clear Sound Award for outstanding sound design and original music.

Inis Nua Theatre Company presents contemporary plays from Ireland and the UK.

“Dublin by Lamplight” wasn’t the only Irish play recognized by the Theatre Alliance. Theatre Exile’s production of the Martin McDonagh play, “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” was nominated for five awards including outstanding overall production of a play, outstanding direction, outstanding set design, outstanding choreography/movement, and outstanding supporting actor (Pearse Bunting).

The 17th Annual Barrymore Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, October 3, at the Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. The evening is black tie optional.

September 30, 2011 by
How to Be Irish in Philly

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

The Bobby Sands mural in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

In 1981, a small group of Irish prisoners in Long Kesh (Maze) Prison in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, began a hunger strike to press the British government to recognize them for what they considered themselves—political prisoners protesting a foreign occupier, not criminals. Most were members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

By the time the strike ended a few months later, 10 men were dead, including Bobby Sands, 27, who had been elected a member of parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone a month before his death by starvation.

There have already been marches and other 30th anniversary commemorations in Ireland, Northern Ireland, the US, and around the world. In Philadelphia on Sunday, the Irish community will gather for a special Mass at the Irish Memorial at Penns Landing. Breakfast will follow at The Plough and the Stars. Cost: $25.

Also on Sunday, St. Malachy Parish and School will be holding its Jubilee Mass and reception at the church in North Philadelphia that was founded in 1850 by Irish immigrants and the Sisters of Mercy, an Irish order.

This is also the weekend of Hungerstock, featuring rocker-writer Patty Smyth and our own John Byrne Band, all taking place in Camden. Proceeds go to local food banks.

On Sunday night, the Tartan Terrors will be at the Sellersville Theater for those who love their bagpipes and dancing and don’t mind that it’s Scottish.

Speaking of the broad definition of Celtic, on Tuesday, the Paul McKenna Band and the Celtic group, Comas, who mix Irish, Scottish, and Breton with a little Belgian thrown in there, will be performing at The Grand Opera House in Wilmington.

Speaking of John Byrne (we did, way up there), he’s launching a new Irish session at The Blind Pig in Northern Liberties on Tuesday night. Members of his band will be there to keep the tunes flowing at this great pub where John is a co-owner and bartender.

Speaking of The Blind Pig (gee, this is getting repetitive), Irish Network-Philadelphia is hold its latest networking happy hour there on Thursday evening. Food is yummy, so head on down to meet your peeps.

Thursday is a busy night. Orla Fallon, late of Celtic Women, is on stage at the Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest in Bethlehem. Tenor Ronan Tynan is performing at the Patriots Theater at the Trenton War Memorial in Trenton, NJ. And County Down singer-songwriter Fil Campbell is performing at The Shanachie Pub and Restaurant in Ambler.

A heads up for next weekend: the amazing Celtic harpers William Jackson and Grainne Hambly will be performing at West Chester University on Sunday night. There are also harp workshops in the afternoon, so throw your instrument in the back of the car (carefully) and head on down (register first!). There’s a session afterwards at Kildare’s, West Chester.

Galway Guild (they promise Irish rock and rebel songs) will be at Marty Magees in Glenolden.

And Saturday also marks the final Ancient Order of Hibernians National President’s dinner for Philadelphia’s Seamus Boyle, who has helmed this organization for the last few years. There’s a Mass at 4 PM and dinner at 7 at the Radisson Hotel in Trevose.

September 30, 2011 by